Role of highly-charged ions in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas.

This presentation considers how the interaction between physical conditions in plasmas and atomic-structure properties affects the role played by highly-charged ions. It is emphasised that reliable and accurate atomic data are required to determine plasma conditions from the analysis of spectral line intensities. Atomic-structure problems which limit the quality of available atomic data are discussed. Spectroscopic observations quoted provide information on the behaviour of ions in plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]